DRUG EPIDEMIC IN IGBOLAND: Anambra Youths And The Fight Against Methamphetamine

The increasing addiction to hard drugs, especially methamphetamine, popularly known as crystal meth, glass and ice or Mkpurummiri in local parlance, by youths in Anambra State has reached a worrisome crescendo. However, some communities and its youth leaders have risen to fight the hydra headed monster, which is touted to be root cause of armed robbery, rape and other criminalities, reports David-Chyddy Eleke

In a drinking joint in Awka, two young men occupied a table, close to this reporter. Their discussion was about a certain Vivian. One of the men told his friend that he believed Vivian (supposedly his girlfriend) was not normal.

“She spent a night in my place the other day, and all through, I noticed she never slept,” the guy complained. “At about 2am, she woke me up and told me she thinks there is someone outside my door, trying to burgle it.”


The young man said he stayed awake for a while and noticed nothing, and as he made to go to bed again, Vivian looked through the window and said she was seeing a lot of people trooping into the compound. He tried observing too but saw nothing. This reporter listened as the young man’s friend questioned him if he observed Vivian take anything that was not what he offered her? Their conclusion was that Vivian may be on hard drug.

The case of Vivian is same as many young people today, including ladies. Investigation by THISDAY showed that there are a lot of substances young people take to heighten their level of happiness, and most of it, even though dangerous to their health and body organs, also give them a false sense of happiness, as much as elevating them into hallucinations and higher realm, as could be seen with Vivian.

Merely unwrapping some pieces of Tom Tom sweets into a bottle of Lacasera drink has been discovered to be be used by youths to give themselves false sense of happiness, just as pawpaw leave soaked in hypo bleach, or urine collected and left for days can also intoxicate.

Unwholesome Trend of Methamphetamine

Methamphetamine is one of such substances which is regularly abused by youths. Checks showed that the substance which is also called crystal meth, glass or ice has also acquired a local name; Mkpurummiri, and has proven to be the most commonly used among hard drugs today, just as is now very rampant in communities in Anambra State.

Investigation showed that it has same effect as cocaine, but even though it is much more destructive and addictive, it is far more cheaper.

Mkpurummiri is a synthetic (man-made) chemical, unlike cocaine, for instance, which comes from a plant. It is commonly manufactured in illegal, hidden laboratories, mixing various forms of amphetamine (another stimulant drug) or derivatives with other chemicals to boost its potency.

It was gathered that common pills for cold remedies are often used as the basis for the production of the drug. The meth “cook” extracts ingredients from those pills and to increase its strength combines the substance with chemicals such as battery acid, drain cleaner, lantern fuel and antifreeze to manufacture it.

It comes in clear crystal chunks or shiny blue-white rocks. Usually, users smoke mkpurummiri with a small glass pipe, but they may also swallow it, snort it, or inject it into a vein. Experts say its users have a quick rush of euphoria shortly after taking it, but it is dangerous, and can damage one’s body and cause severe psychological problems.

A source who spoke to THISDAY, and who claims to have friends that indulge in the substance in Awka said: “Mkpurummiri has the same level of addiction like cocaine, but what is more fascinating about mkpurummiri is that it is cheap, and that makes it even more addictive than cocaine. This is because it is very highly affordable. For just N500, you can buy a dose of mkpurummiri or even more, depending on how the dealer sells in your area.”

THISDAY gathered from investigation that there are several ways of consuming the hard drug. A source who spoke to THISDAY on condition of anonymity said some local and unprepared users who are taking the drug for the first time use foil to wrap the hard drug, before using lighter to melt it, then making a hole in the foil, through which they slot a pipe to sniff in the drug.

It was also gathered that some people preferred to melt it, then use syringes to inject it into their bodies. “This method is mostly used by those who have become so reliant on the drug. Others just melt it and sniff it through their noses. But people who are accustomed to it acquire a glass pipe, with which they consume it, while others use electric bulbs, whose heads have been removed to melt and sniff it,” the source said.

War against Mkpurummiri

Given that the high number of cult activities, rape and armed robbery have been attributed to abuse of the substance, these has led to a total declaration of war on it by most communities in Anambra State. Many communities are correctly fighting the use of the drug in the state including: Enugwu Agidi, Ekwulobia, Umudioka, Oba, Obosi, and many more.

Declaring war on the drug, indigenes of Umudioka, a community in the Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State, through a press statement signed by the President-General, Umudioka Improvement Union, Chike Odoji, said indigenes and non-indigenes resident in Umudioka were prohibited from taking mkpurummiri, Indian Hemp and any other illegal substances, all of which had been coded in local parlance by their consumers.

The statement read, “This is to announce to all indigenes of Umudioka and non-indigenes living in Umudioka that henceforth consumption, smoking and sales of Mkpuru Mmili; Isi na Awa Agu; Aju Achu Enwe; Stonch; Indian Hemp; and other substances/illicit drugs have been proscribed in Umudioka and her environs.

“Soonest, UIU (Umudioka Improvement Union) in conjunction with NDLEA, anti-cult and other relevant law enforcement agencies will commence a manhunt for all the dealers and consumers within Umudioka. You are therefore advised to stay away from any known bunk that deals on the above-prohibited items. We will not spare anyone once apprehended no matter how highly placed.”

If youths of Umudioka were lucky to get a warning, then, some drug addicts in other communities were not, as war on users was immediately declared, and suspects rounded up for interrogation and punishment.

The trend in many communities in Anambra State is the flogging of consumers, and on a daily basis, videos of youths who have been apprehended, tied up in trees or pillars at village squares of village halls have been surfacing on the social media.

Anayo Nwafor, a young man in his 20s in Enugwu-Agidi was one of the unlucky users of mkpurumiri. THISDAY gathered that in early November when the community declared war on consumers of mkpurummiri, Anayo was among several youths apprehended for being addicted to the drug. The punishment is usually flogging, and right at the village square, youths tied Anayo and flogged him to unconsciousness. He later died as a result of the flogging.

Leaders of Enugwu-Agidi who addressed journalists in a press conference in Awka told the sad story of the painful demise of Anayo. The Enugwu-Agidi Town Union National Public Relations Officer, Hon. Dumebi Onubuiyi, told journalists that the town union had embarked on peace missions across the community since it came into office few weeks ago, until the ugly incident of the death of a youth occurred in the community the previous week.

“We heard of the sad event that took place of one Anayo Nwafor that was apprehended with illicit drug material; the one that they call Mkpulummili. The youths instead of consulting us, manhandled him and he eventually gave up the ghost.

“The boys that are involved are youths of the community. We are trying to lay our hands on them to hear from them. But since this sad event happened, they have not been seen anywhere. We have involved the police, the DSS and other security agencies in the matter.”

Also last Saturday, youths of Ekwulobia in Aguata LGA also went to town on a war against the hard drug. THISDAY gathered from a resident of the community, Afam Ogbaji that four youths were arrested by members of the town’s central vigilante, and were held at the town hall, where their matter was being deliberated as at the time of filling this report.

Ogbaji said: “There are some communities in Ekwulobia that have very notorious drug joints. Those are the villages were you will find some of the craziest youths in Ekwulobia. I joined them to a raid of one of the villages, but I later left when the Central Vigilante were going to another village.

” Right now, four youths have so far been arrested. I hear that while some people want them to be flogged, others are asking that they should be handed over to NDLEA. They have not concluded,” Ogbaji said, while talking to our correspondent. The effort has remained on as on a daily basis reports of communities’ fight against the scourge keep coming in.

Stakeholders React

Meanwhile, some stakeholders have condemned the flogging of addicts, saying that flogging is not a form of rehabilitation for drug addicts. Former Senator Representing Anambra South and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the just concluded election, Senator Andy Uba added his voice on how he feels the scourge could be tamed.

Uba in a press statement he published on his verified Facebook page said: “One of the greatest threats today in Igbo land, especially in our dear state, Anambra is drug abuse among youths. Various communities’ youth leadership have adopted flogging anyone found to be taking the METH (Mkpulu Mmili).

“The question has been, will such beating solve or stop someone that is already addicted to that? My view is that we should embark on advocacy, reorientation and rehabilitation programmes among other things as approach against the new threat from consumption of ‘Mkpulu Mmili’. The government and civil society organizations should lead this strategy.

“In Anambra State, Ministries of Health, Youth, Women affairs, LGA etc should synergize and coordinate the advocacy, reorientation and rehabilitation of youths on issue of Mkpulu Mmili menace. In Anambra State, we have in existence, a well organised local community administrative system (Town Union). Community system, which remains a major means through which the above listed State Government Ministries and Civil organizations can effectively manage the growing ‘Mkpulu Mmili’ abuse in the state.

“The rehabilitation content should accommodate training them on various skills for productive purposes.We cannot be facing such challenge and the state government agencies that should initiate intervention will be busy in Awka while the labour force of the state is under threat due to drug abuse. You cannot separate the growing consumption of Mkpulu Mmili from violent crime that is creeping into our state.

“There is need for the government to takeover the narrative on the issue of Mkpulu Mmili in the state. If Awka is too busy to look into the happenings in various communities, why not devolve powers to LGAs who are closer to the people? I therefore, call for new policy regime in confronting this threat as flogging mkpulu mmili users won’t solve the scary challenge in Igboland,” Senator Andy Uba said.

Mr Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra State also waded into the matter. Obi in a press release decried the scourge, while proffering solution to the problem. He said: “It would be irresponsible on the parts of the elders to keep quiet in the face of the ugly stories emanating from different parts of the country on the new trend on hard drugs among Nigerian youths.

“While commending various groups that have spoken on the menace, especially some towns that have been trying different methods to arrest the disturbing trend, I call on the NDLEA to devise a new strategy that will involve working closely with the government of various town unions across Nigeria towards arresting the new development.

“I recognise the great efforts the NDLEA was making in the fight against drug abuse, but the rapidity and openness with which the youths are embracing the condemnable acts is a sign that something is fundamentally wrong with the society and I call for the society to seek and correct those fundamental wrongs as lasting panacea to the menace.

“The United Nations Office on Drug and Crimes (UNODC) has earlier reported that Nigeria has the highest drug abuse prevalence in the world, with 14.4 per cent of Nigerians presently engaged in drug abuse. The situation will possibly be worse now with the recent spate of drug abuse among Nigerian youths. A timely action by the government and the concerned agencies will help save the youths from the ugly trend.”

Also reacting, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) threatened to go after distributors and consumers of the hard drug in the Southeast. The group described the development as very strange and completely unacceptable.

In a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, IPOB blamed security agents for the drugs’ prevalence in the North, vowing not to allow same in the South-east. While accusing some security agencies of complicity in the racketeering of the hard drug, the separatist group called on communities to ensure they report those involved in the madness to its office for proper torturing.

The statement partly reads, “We note with utter displeasure, a very ugly and disturbing trend among some youths in Biafra land who have resorted to the consumption of destructive hard drug methamphetamine popularly known as Mkpuru Mmiri. This development is very strange and completely unacceptable. It is this same hard drug that renders Almajiris in the North useless, and we won’t allow this madness to creep in or fester among Biafran youths.

“IPOB hereby declare war against this nonsense. We shall go after those taking or distributing this harmful illicit drug. Henceforth, anyone found peddling, consuming or in any way involved in the distribution of this illicit drug shall be decisively dealt with. Biafran youths are known for their enterprising spirit, entrepreneurship and diligence.

“IPOB will not allow evil men and unpatriotic elements to ruin or destroy the future of our youths with Mkpuru Mmiri. While we commend communities who have already risen to curb this evil, we solicit useful information about those behind the distribution of this illicit drug so we will teach them in the language they understand.”

What the Authorities are Doing

THISDAY visited several government institutions to find out what they were doing to arrest the scourge of hard drug in the society. The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Vincent Okpala who spoke to our correspondent said: “A small ministerial committee has been put together to study and design a community based intervention plan for the ongoing epidemic. Our design will involve every political ward and draw support from relevant law enforcement agencies like NDLEA, Police and Civil Defense.

“With respect to treatment, the states psychiatry hospital is available. We have also reached out to state based clinical psychologists to explore adaptable CBT programs. Cutting the supply chain is key. His Excellency (Governor Obiano) is committed to sanitising our drug distribution system in line with National drug distribution policy. Achieving the Coordinated Wholesale Center in Anambra as intentioned by the Federal government will truly help us achieve the later and the government is committed to this.”

The state police command also stated that it has been worried about the new trend and was working to ensure that the scourge of drug in the state is broken. The Police Public Relations Officer of the command, DSP Toochukwu Ikenga while interacting with THISDAY said: “Drugs is the oxygen that drive most crimes and bad behavior exhibited by individuals. It is an unfortunate situation that youth engage in drug taking to serve whatever purpose or satisfaction.

“The Anambra State Police Command has frowned at this ugly development and we have since joined a deliberate program by the police high command called Police Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices (POCAVCO), a program targeted to sensitise the youths of dangers of drugs and others vices. We are also planning a town hall meetings in different communities and among other strategies to deal with the situation.”

Meanwhile, the job of fighting drug circulation rests squarely on the shoulders of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). A visit to the Anambra office of the agency was unsuccessful. It was gathered that the public relations officer of the command was away on a course in Jos, while the commander of the agency has been transferred out.

A staff who refused to disclose his name said: “The new commander just arrived the state yesterday, and has not even started work. She is a woman, and most of us have not met her yet. You may need to give her some time to settle down before four check back again.”

-------------------------------------THIS DAY

Black Catholic Voices Interview With Ogechi Akalegbere, 2021 Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award Recipient

BY CATHOLIC STANDARD STAFF

 

Ogechi Akalegbere. Image: Catholic Standard 

(Ogechi Akalegbere, the Christian service coordinator at Connelly School of the Holy Child in Potomac, Maryland, received the 2021 Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award on Nov. 16 from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the anti-poverty program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. She is a member of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Gaithersburg, Maryland, where she has served as a catechist and as co-chair of its Pastoral Council. She has also been active as a board member and community organizer for Action in Montgomery, a community advocacy organization rooted in Montgomery County’s neighborhoods and congregations. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington’s multimedia team of Geoffrey Ros and Ron Bethke taped the interview at St. Rose of Lima Parish’s Historic Chapel, and Mark Zimmermann, the editor of the archdiocese’s Catholic Standard newspaper and website, conducted the interview. Here are the video and transcript of the interview. )


How would you summarize your faith journey as a Catholic who is African American?

Ogechi Akalegbere – “So, I was born in Nigeria, and I was born to two Catholic parents and they baptized me in the Catholic faith back in Nigeria, and I’ve grown up with that faith foundation really integral in my family life and prayers and attending Mass and receiving the sacraments. I think for me the biggest way that I could summarize my faith journey has been “hills and valleys.” There have been a lot of successes and triumphs and ways that my faith has really helped me grow, but also in the moments of desolation and separation I felt with my relationship with God, I’ve also grown as an individual because it’s challenged who I am, what I stand for, and how I interact with the people around me. And I think that foundation that my parents set, especially in encouraging us to participate in religious education and in service, has really formed the woman that I am today.”

How does it feel for you to be back home at St. Rose today?

Ogechi Akalegbere – “Well this is the perfect place to do this. This parish has really shaped who I am. I think I would not be the person that I am today if it wasn’t for St. Rose of Lima. The multicultural aspect of our parish has really shaped and formed my love for diversity and diversity work. The opportunities to really engage in the community and service, and using my time and talent, has really been a way that I’ve grown in my gifts as a young adult and even as a teenager; and I just call this place home. I received most of my sacraments here, even marriage here, and I would not call any other place home.”

What have you learned from the witness of faith of other Black Catholics, how has that shaped your life?

Ogechi Akalegbere – “I think my first example of the witness of faith of Black Catholics would definitely have to be my parents, specifically my mom. My mom is probably the most religious, faithful person that I know, and her steadfast faith, especially after dealing with many trials and tribulations, has really encouraged me during moments of valleys, like I explained earlier. I think that watching her form of faith, her form of faith expression, really encouraged me to be more contemplative and to be more personal in my relationship with God. She could pray for hours and hours (and I am not gifted in that way), but I also realize that even though we have different forms of faith expression, she’s been a great example of really trusting in the will of God.

“Other faith examples that I’ve been blessed to have later on in life, have been examples of saints, like St. Augustine. St. Augustine is very much like me, in some ways, and obviously very different than me in other ways. I really enjoyed reading his book The Confessions and learning about his moments of spiritual desolation and questioning and really that tension of faith and spirituality that he had. He’s also a bit of an over-thinker like I am, and so I connected with him on that philosophical level as well. But for me, him being a Black Catholic man, and he was the first Black Catholic saint that I was ever exposed to, was really poignant in me being able to represent my whole self, in my faith.

“And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my personal hero, Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman. Again, I see so much of a mirror in who she is and who I am, and she represents all that I hope to be and more, if I am ever to become a saint. Her joyfulness, her passion for really bringing her whole self into her faith, and encouraging others to do so, and even just her bursting out into song in speeches. I love to sing as well. I think that when I can bring joy and bring my whole self into my faith, that is when I’m living out my purpose the best, and she really is a great example for that to me.”

How does your faith shape your work as Christian service coordinator at Connelly School of the Holy Child, what are some of the key service activities there, what impact do you hope that has on students, and what have you found most inspiring about the students as they are engaged in this service?

Ogechi Akalegbere – “For the past three years, I’ve been the Christian service coordinator at the Connelly School of the Holy Child.

“My faith is integral into the work that I do. I’ve always had a passion for service. I didn’t even know it was a job until I applied, and I’m so blessed that I can actually do this as a job. I think that service is one of the ways that I can live out love in action, and being able to encourage students, and young girls especially, to figure out how they can use their gifts in service for others is a real blessing.

“Some projects that I really am in love with that we do as a school, one is an intergenerational service project where students get to do virtual conversations with the elderly, and so on any given Zoom call, it’s myself, the Gen Zs, Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers all together talking about different themes and really giving of themselves, their stories. And I found that in whatever service you do, if you take the opportunity to have a real encounter, a real exchange of self, you can really expand your worldview, and I've loved that some of the students have taken this small few weeks experience and grown from it and continued a relationship with seniors that they’ve gotten to know through service. Other opportunities that I love to participate with students are the areas where we get to go into the community, whether it’s serving meals or having a game night and Valentine’s Day party with women at the Saint Josephine Bakhita Shelter in D.C. and really allowing students to recognize that there is humanity even in those that are so often deemed voiceless or invisible by society.

“Service is important to me in my own personal life. I serve as a board member and community organizer with Action in Montgomery and also on the Pastoral Council here at St. Rose of Lima. I think from a young age, it was one of the few ways that I really felt that I could inject myself in my community. I’m a bit of a know-it-all, and I like to know and really engage with all types of people and know how all the pieces work. And so whether it’s on the grander scale as a board member or in the trenches in the community really getting involved with my parish and flushing out the vision of how the parish will look like, I want to see how I can use my gifts and my voice and my insight in service to my community, whether it’s my parish community or the larger community, and in those experiences I’ve grown as a Catholic. I think that has really helped shape why I am Catholic and how I can live out that faith in a tangible way, and I’ve also grown as a citizen in my community really recognizing the inequities that are around me and really recognizing the people in the pews around me as well as a parishioner.”

What is your reaction to the nationwide demonstrations for racial justice that have happened since the spring of 2020 in the wake of unarmed men and women of color being killed by police? Tell me about your involvement with Catholics United for Black Lives, why is that important to you, and what impact do you hope that group has?

Ogechi Akalegbere – “My reaction to the demonstrations that happened this past year in relation to racial injustice, especially the disparity in killing of unarmed Black men, was sadness, but also it was not surprise, because if you pay attention to the stories of Black individuals in this country, the narrative has continued over and over and over again. Living in Maryland witnessing the killing of Freddie Gray in Baltimore and the uprising that happened in this state, seeing it on a larger scale in the media coverage because we were in our homes and really focused on the news, really re-triggered some emotions for me, but also reignited my passion for social justice that, if I’m being honest, had grown complacent.

“And I also recognize that even though I have parishioners that I love, I didn’t really have a solid group of Black Catholics that I could talk to, and really have a shared experience with and a shared focus on the flourishing of Black lives, so my involvement with Catholics United for Black Lives was really an answer to that. I was blessed to be asked to be on their board, and as a board member, I also serve on their Community Organizing Committee, and a Community Organizing Committee allows and helps embolden members, allies and people that are interested in the flourishing of Black lives to really figure out the needs in their own communities, wherever region they live in and how they can help solve inequities, but through that Catholic lens and to teach others that organizing and social movements are not in conflict at all with our Catholic call, in fact, it's one of the most beautiful ways we can live that out.”

People of color – African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans – have been hardest hit by the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. What does this say about our country, and what should our country do about this?

Ogechi Akalegbere – “I think that during the pandemic we recognized that people of color; Black, Latino, (and) Indigenous, were hardest hit by the pandemic socially, financially (and) medically, and those issues have always existed, but the pandemic really put a spotlight on the inequities and forced people that had the privilege to maybe ignore or forget about those problems to have to focus on it. And I think what it says about our country that this has continued for so long and unfortunately will likely continue once we come out of this pandemic is that we are so tied to this idea of a throwaway culture, where some people are dispensable, the elderly are dispensable, those that don’t contribute financially to the economic market can be dispensable, but they are not. Our health, our value, everybody’s value is intertwined, and my hope is that as we move towards whatever this new normal looks like, we remember the lessons learned and we remember the people left behind and forgotten and hurt the hardest, and we place our emphasis and our resources and our values towards making sure that those margins decrease rather than increase.”

Cardinal Gregory has noted that while the nation confronts the coronavirus, it must also address the virus of racism. What do you think the Catholic Church should do as an institution to combat racism, and what do you think individual Catholics should do?

Ogechi Akalegbere – “I agree with Cardinal Gregory that we must address the virus of racism. Racism is a sin, and when I think of sin, I think of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and in that sacrament we must first acknowledge that we have a virus, have a sin at all, and until we do that, and unfortunately we have people within our pews, within our communities, that are choosing to ignore that it even exists, until we really collectively acknowledge the sin of racism and then uproot that, we have a long way to go.

“I also think that one of the ways that we can really break down biases and barriers are through moments of encounter. I think it's fitting that we are starting the Synod process. One of the lessons I’ve learned from community organizing is the value of storytelling and relational meetings and relational conversations. If you don’t know your neighbor, you cannot advocate for and recognize the humanity of that neighbor, and so for the Catholic Church collectively, the Synod is a great step, if we invite everyone that is often voiceless to the table and individually we can challenge ourselves to really understand who our definition of neighbor is and who is not included, who gets to have a voice and whose narrative is told for them. If we continue to have those encounters and conversations and really listen and really do the work of seeking reconciliation with one another, we can start to solve the problem of racism, but understanding that just listening is not the end step. Listening is actually the beginning to a process of reconciliation and personal change and systemic change, as well.”

How have you kept the faith, both your Catholic faith and your faith for our country, over the years, despite this “virus” of racism that has infected both, and what gives you hope for a better future for our Church and our country?

Ogechi Akalegbere – “It’s been difficult to keep my faith and my faith in this country, especially given the events that have taken place in the last couple of years, but I think that growing in relationship with fellow Black Catholics, with other allies and people that have a real passion for getting rid of the sin of racism within our Catholic Church and the world, I think that has really helped me along my journey.

“I also think that my work that I’ve always liked to do in service and encountering other people has continued my faith journey, even when I felt great disappointment, even when I've been on the receiving end of racism here by members, or people that I encounter day-to-day, I think, again relying on my faith and conversation with the Holy Spirit who hears all of my different types of prayers and frustrations and groanings, and learning about different saints that have also had a passion for social justice has also fortified my journey.

“This problem of racism, this problem of division, is not a new one in our country, and I think that reaching out and finding the examples of the faithful that have overcome this, examples like Sister Thea Bowman, examples like Sister Mary Lange and Augustus Tolton, those men and women who really have had to endure a lot in this country but have kept their faith. Those people have really sustained my faith journey and kept my faith. I find hope in this work in young people. I’m blessed to work with amazing, amazing young women who really encourage me and embolden me to do more, to continue on the path and to not lose hope because they give me hope. They have a trust in us. They are not the future. They are actually the present, and their present purpose and present involvement is what we should all be tapped into, because they will really be the ones to help us along this journey.”

Could you share with us some of your personal experiences of racism, to help us understand what people of color go through?

Ogechi Akalegbere – “Some of my personal experiences of racism have been micro aggressions and for me when I think of microaggression, they’re like tiny razor marks that you may not see but imagine washing your hands and putting on hand sanitizer, you'll feel that paper cut or razor mark. And it really damages the person in a way that takes away part of their humanity or makes them feel less than.

“And some examples have been in my work in doing community service with students. When I go to a service site to donate books or canned food items, and I get the assumption that I'm here to receive, which is no shame. I’ve been on the receiving end of charity in my life, and I have no shame with that, but constantly being assumed to be in need and not in the giving role, and not capable of being a giver, and being mistaken for different types of Black individuals, because there’s only two of us in the room, or you’re not taking the time to get to know the other Black individuals in your institution, being told that your idea is not good enough, but then having to hear your white colleague share the same idea and then being praised.

“So those are just some that come to my mind. I’m sure there are more, but the way that my brain works, in protection for myself, sometimes I put those away because it is how I survive in this world. It’s how I try not to get angry too much. I think the worse are the microaggressions, the gaslighting, the ‘what if.’ When I share an experience of racism, being told that I’m over-exaggerating. I had a Catholic woman that I very much admired tell me that, ‘You seem sensible. so why are you so upset about the murder of Breonna Taylor?’ and, ‘Don't you think that this was going to happen because her boyfriend was this, this, this and that,’ which you all know has no merit in the value and dignity of someone’s life. And then to try to coach that gaslighting with ‘you’re one of the intelligent Black women that I follow, so you shouldn't be like the other Black women that are up in arms about the killing of a Black woman,’ that looks and feels just like her.

“That was probably the most hurtful exchange that I’ve ever had, and I’ve had exchanges like that ever since, and I think that sometimes, especially in this area where I live, people expect racism to look like Charleston. They expect racism to look like January 6th, the insurrection. But racism and microaggressions are the most insidious forms, because they are coached in good intentions, but (they have) bad impact, and it really can do a number on someone’s psyche, their sense of value and their sense of self.

“And I’ve witnessed racism against students that I love and cherish at my school whether it’s about their hair, whether it’s about their qualifications to get into an Ivy League school, and how are they even considering applying to this school, they should lower their expectations. And it angers me, but I also recognize that my role isn’t just to be the service coordinator. My role as one of the few Black faculty at my school is also to be a witness and a voice and advocate for those girls that have to navigate youth in that way, and teach them that it doesn’t always get better, but it does change, and they can they can find hope and solace in talking to someone like myself.”

“…A lot of people don’t realize, and I didn’t realize, when I think of centers of racism and where I should be careful, usually growing up, I thought of the deep South. And then I realized even around here, in Frederick, I think Thurmont was a ‘sundown town,’ one of those towns that you just don’t go to as a Black person or stay, once it gets dark.

“… One of my side things, I’m a competitive powerlifter, and so I’ve traveled to places like York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and there are certain places we just did not stop. And my coach is Sicilian, so he looks like he could be Black. He’s just very blessed with his olive skin, and he would get looks, and when I first started lifting, I was the only Black person, Black female, in the whole competition, and I would get nasty comments from men, and part of it was sexism but also it was laced in racism and just, you know, having to put on a brave face because I just came to compete. So there are lots of stories.

“...There’s a pressure to represent your race well, and just having to walk with that pressure is hard, because you want to – other people get the luxury of just being themselves – but when you’re minoritized, you have then the added burden of not being able to be yourself, you might have to code-switch, and I worked a lot to not do that, because I know that there are Black girls that look to me as an example of how to move in this world, and if I shape-shift who I am to fit the comfort of other people, I’m teaching them that’s how they need to move in this world as well, and that’s a disservice to them, and so out of service to the young people that I encounter, I’ve grown in how I live my life and show up in this world as a Black woman, but it takes a lot of courage to do that, and I don’t fault anyone that chooses to play whatever social game they need to so that they feel safe and can have access to privileges that they might not otherwise.”

What is your reaction to receiving the Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award?

Ogechi Akalegbere – “My reaction to receiving the Cardinal Bernardin Award is shock and joy. I am just a mere citizen that just does what she thinks is the best, and I think that to be recognized in such up a big way, especially a way that really ties in my faith, my service work and my passion for diversity and justice in a beautiful way is just a testament to how following God’s will and trying to just do your own part in God’s will, can really shape and encourage other people. And I hope that in hearing my story and in hearing a little bit about myself at the reception, people feel emboldened and encouraged to really engage in deep and meaningful encounters with those that are often called the margins.

“I think that the beauty of being a young leader is that you have the wisdom from your past and you also have the hope for the future, and I think of the image of the Sankofa bird. The Sankofa bird is a symbol that’s used a lot in African-American celebrations, but it comes from a tradition that asks you to take pearls of wisdom from the past and use that in the present, as you move your feet forward towards the future, and I really internalize that messaging, because I think that as individuals and as a country, as a Church, we can never forget our history, no matter how dark it might have been, because that really colors how we live in our day-to-day world, and it also will shape the future, and we do that as a practice as Catholics. We look to our Catholic tradition. We look to Scripture. We look to the saints. We look to our ancestors and how they lived out their faith, how Christ called his disciples to live out their faith, and often that exists in moments of tension and injustice and highlighting those that are the least. We pray the Beatitudes. We highlight those that are the least, and so if we continue to live a life that recognizes and highlights those that are the least and uplift them so that they are not voiceless but given a voice, given a platform and a seat at the table, I think then I’m doing my work of justice while I’m living out my faith well, and I hope that I can speak to that in a great way when I receive this award.

“Cardinal Bernardin was a huge mover and shaker in the social justice movement. I almost wish like, could we look back at what he talked about it, and live it out today? Remember the people that have come before us like him who are real advocates for justice, and I hope that especially the religious men and women in our Church are looking to him and looking to people like him as examples of how to really care for justice, care for those that are marginalized in our pews, in our communities, and I just hope that I’m doing him a great honor.”

What advice do you have for young adults about getting more involved in their Catholic faith, and what advice do you have for the Catholic Church about reaching out to and engaging young adults in living out their faith?

Ogechi Akalegbere – “Some advice that I have for young adults about getting more involved in the Church is that if there is an opportunity or a program or group that you want to start that doesn’t exist, don’t be afraid to be the person that starts it. Reach out to the staff or start it on your own. We have the blessings of social media and technology to really allow us resources to do things on our own.

“One example is that I really wanted to have a small group where I didn’t have to explain things that are specific to my life as a Black woman and then open up myself spiritually. So my friend Stephanie and I started a BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) Women’s small group, and we met and it was nice to have a space where I can just shed the microaggressions or the heaviness and burdens that I experience especially in the year of 2020. And we could just be. And be women of color of faith, of Catholic faith, and share, and that didn’t exist in my parish and for me to start it, it may not have flourished in my parish. So be open to reaching out to other young people that might have similar interests and pooling your resources across different parishes, like for that example.

“Another way that I think that we can really inject ourselves is to continue to ask questions of how you can serve. Sometimes you’re not going to be called upon to give your voice. So you might have to be bold enough to do that. So whether it’s joining a ministry and leading the ministry, offering up that opportunity, offering up your skill, your time, and recognizing who is not involved in the parish and bringing that to the leadership. Be careful! That might mean that you are then asked to lead a ministry, because church folks love to invite young people to do things, but if you’re ready and willing to allow the Holy Spirit to do that for you, it could mean great things, and it can really reinvigorate your faith.

“One example is I was very resistant to being a catechist, but I also had a lot of questions on how young people were really rooted in their faith. So that led me to becoming a catechist, and I’ve been blessed to be a catechist for the past six years and in doing that, I’ve really strengthened my understanding of theology in the Catholic Church, because I have to be able to explain it to middle school students. And so be open to the ways the Holy Spirit might show the holes and gaps that are needed in your parish.

“If you don’t have a home parish, try to find one. A home is a beautiful place to have and a home of faith is a beautiful (place). I know in the D.C. area, we’re very transient and it’s common to go to different Masses at the most convenient times, but find a home. Find a place where you can grow roots and friendships and relationships, because relationships are what is going to sustain you. When sometimes your faith relationship with God may not be as strong, God has always proven himself through the relationships of the people He puts in my life.

“And I think the Church needs to be open and get rid of this phrase that ‘the young people are the future of the Church.’ We are not. We are the present, and the young people that I teach are the present of the Church, and if you think about us as the present of the Church, you think about us as being needed and being needed to be heard and encouraged and invited, and to reach out to us when we challenge, or create tension, or have viewpoints that are not always the way that things have been, to be open to change, to be open to a deeper understanding or a different understanding and to really create a landscape of the Church that continues after you leave.

“After I’m not here, I want to create a landscape of a Church that allows the people that I teach in middle school and their kids to feel welcome as their whole selves in the parish.”

(At the end of the interview, Ogechi Akalegbere discussed how she had gotten her first name.)

“Last year in 2020 before the pandemic hit, I had a mission to go on a date with my mom, kind of like a mom-daughter date. (On) one of those dates, I asked her, ‘How come my siblings and I all have Nigerian names, Igbo names, and you have (the name) Angela, and daddy’s Geoffrey?’

“And she laughed, and she said, ‘If you know Nigerian history, Nigerian independence took place in 1960.’

“And I’m not going to give my mom’s age, but my mom and dad were both born before that. My grandparents wanted, and so many parents even in my mom’s generation, wanted their kids to assimilate well. This is a common thing in Asian tradition and Hispanic tradition and even in African American tradition, naming your child a name that will be accepted by basically the Anglo or White American communities, or the White European (community) if they immigrated to Europe.

“But my mom, in a bit of a revolutionary twist – and if you met my mom, she’s the least activist person I know, she thinks all the organizing I do is a little too agitating – so it was funny for me to hear that her and her brothers had really wanted to reclaim the Nigerian identity and to share that with their kids. All of our names are also Christian-related names or faith-based names.

“My name Ogechi means ‘God’s time’ (in the Igbo language), which is funny, because I’m the most impatient person ever!

“In her own small way, she (my mom) was trying to really inject culture into her future kids, and she made that conscious decision to really anchor us in our faith. My faith is part of my name, and my culture is part of my name. I hated it when I was a young kid, and people would mispronounce it all the time. But I’ve grown to love it, because it makes me who I am, and it really melds together my faith and culture in just one simple name. So I just love my name now, and I love that my mom finally told me the story of why (I have this name). She has such a simple name (Angela), an Anglo name, and I do not.”

Service And Advocacy Help Ogechi Akalegbere Live Out Love, And Her Faith, In Action

BY MARK ZIMMERMANN

THE CATHOLIC STANDARD

Ogechi Akalegbere, the Christian service coordinator at Connelly School of the Holy Child in Potomac, Maryland and a member of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Gaithersburg, received the 2021 Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award on Nov. 16 during the U.S. Catholic bishops’ fall meeting in Baltimore. Image: Connelly School of the Holy Child

Ogechi Akalegbere laughed as she reflected on the meaning of her name in the Igbo language of Nigeria, where she was born before immigrating to the United States as an infant with her family.

“My name Ogechi means ‘God’s time,’ which is funny, because I’m the most impatient person ever!” she said, joking about the irony of her name and the belief that things eventually unfold “in God’s time.”

Akalegbere, the Christian service coordinator at Connelly School of the Holy Child in Potomac, Maryland and the co-chair of the pastoral council at her home parish, St. Rose of Lima in Gaithersburg, also serves as a board member and community organizer for an advocacy group in her county, AIM (Action in Montgomery).

Interviewed for the Catholic Standard’s Black Catholic Voices series before receiving the 2021 Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award award at a Nov. 16 reception during the U.S. bishops’ fall meeting in Baltimore, Akalegbere reflected on her faith, her church and community service, and how her name ties it all together.

In 2020 before the pandemic, Ogechi Akalegbere got together with her mother and asked her why she and her two brothers and a sister all had Igbo names, while their parents were named Angela and Geoffrey. Her mother explained that after Nigeria gained its independence in 1960, she wanted her children’s names to reflect their Nigerian identity and their faith.

“I’ve grown to love it, because it makes me who I am, and it really melds together my faith and culture in just one simple name,” Akalegbere said.

And in mid-November, “in God’s time,” Akalegbere, who is 33, stepped forward to receive, the Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award, which she said she accepted as a “proud Nigerian American.”

The award from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the anti-poverty program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, recognizes a young adult who demonstrates leadership in fighting poverty and injustice through community-based solutions. The honor is named for the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, the archbishop of Chicago from 1982 until his death 25 years ago from pancreatic cancer in November 1996. Cardinal Bernardin played a key role in CCHD’s founding and was also known for his leadership as the U.S. bishops in 1983 adopted a pastoral letter against nuclear warfare. He also spoke out strongly for a consistent ethic of life, where human life would be respected in all its stages and circumstances.

In the Black Catholic Voices interview, Akalegbere said it was a great honor to receive an award named for Cardinal Bernardin.

“To be recognized in such up a big way, especially a way that really ties in my faith, my service work and my passion for diversity and justice in a beautiful way is just a testament to how following God’s will and trying to just do your own part in God’s will, can really shape and encourage other people,” she said, later adding, “Cardinal Bernardin was a huge mover and shaker in the social justice movement. I almost wish like, could we look back at what he talked about it, and live it out today?”

After accepting the Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award, Akalegbere said, “I grew up having an understanding of God through encounters with people that God has placed in my life… The Holy Spirit has pointed me along paths to serve the community around me.”

She noted that as a high school student, her first exposure to advocacy came at the end of Mass, when someone spoke about the DREAM Act that was being proposed in Maryland because some students were ineligible to pay in-state tuition because of their immigration status.

Later after returning home from college, she joined AIM, a CCHD-funded organization that she described as a “broad-based, non-partisan, multi-faith, multi-racial community organization rooted in Montgomery County’s neighborhoods and congregations.” With AIM, she trained low-income and immigrant parents to advocate for equitable access to school resources.

In her acceptance speech, Akalegbere said she learned lessons in community organizing that guide her social justice work, like “never do for others that which they could do for themselves,” which she said reflects the Catholic understanding of subsidiarity. She said she has also learned that the Holy Spirit emboldens people to hold leaders accountable and to point out social inequities.

Another lesson, she said, is the importance of encountering people and hearing their stories. “Stories told are windows into the experiences of our neighbors. How do we truly know our neighbors, if we don’t get to know them? What keeps them up at night? What prevents them from thriving?” she asked.

That work in community organizing has shaped her current role as a diversity, equity and inclusion speaker and trainer for parishes and schools. “I am honored that the Lord has seen fit that I do good things for others,” she said.

In her Black Catholic Voices interview, Akalegbere spoke about her work as the Christian service coordinator at Connelly School of the Holy Child.

“I think that service is one of the ways that I can live out love in action, and being able to encourage students, and young girls especially, to figure out how they can use their gifts in service for others is a real blessing,” she said.

Some of Akalegbere’s favorite service projects at her school include an intergenerational Zoom call that students join with the elderly and continue friendships with them. She especially enjoys the opportunities for students to go out into the community and serve meals and have a game night and other activities with women at the Saint Josephine Bakhita Shelter in Washington, which she said allows students “to recognize there is humanity even in those that are so often deemed voiceless or invisible by society.”

Serving her parish community on its pastoral council and serving the larger community through AIM are experiences that have helped her grow as a Catholic, she said, adding, “That has really helped shape why I am Catholic and how I can live out that faith in a tangible way, and I’ve also grown as a citizen in my community, really recognizing the inequities that are around me.”

In response to the nationwide protests in 2020 following the killings of unarmed Black men and women by police, Akalegbere has been very active as an organizer with the group Catholics United for Black Lives. She said working for racial justice through a Catholic lens helps “teach others that organizing and social movements are not in conflict at all with our Catholic call, in fact, it’s one of the most beautiful ways we can live that out.”

Akalegbere said the fact that people of color – Blacks, Latinos and Indigenous people – were hardest hit by the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic put a spotlight on longstanding inequities and how a “throwaway culture” victimizes the poor and vulnerable.

“Our health, our value, everybody’s value is intertwined, and my hope is that as we move towards whatever this new normal looks like, we remember the lessons learned and we remember the people left behind and forgotten and hurt the hardest,” she said.

The Synod process underway in the Catholic Church around the world will provide important opportunities for people to encounter one another and hear and learn from their stories, Akalegbere said.

“If you don’t know your neighbor, you cannot advocate for and recognize the humanity of that neighbor, and so for the Catholic Church collectively, the Synod is a great step, if we invite everyone that is often voiceless to the table… If we continue to have those encounters and conversations and really listen and really do the work of seeking reconciliation with one another, we can start to solve the problem of racism, but understanding that just listening is not the end step. Listening is actually the beginning to a process of reconciliation and personal change and systemic change, as well.”

Akalegbere said in her prayer life she tries to be open to how the Holy Spirit is leading her, and in recent years that led her to volunteer to serve as a catechist, which she said has deepened her understanding of the Catholic faith, “because I have to be able to explain it to middle school students.”

She recommends that young adults try to find a home parish if they don’t have one. For her, that has been St. Rose of Lima, which she has attended since she was young. “This parish has really shaped who I am… I just call this place home,” she said, explaining that she has received most of her sacraments there, from her First Communion through matrimony.

As young adults navigate life in a transient area like Washington, Akalegbere said finding a home parish can help them “grow roots and friendships and relationships” that help sustain their faith. She also encouraged them to become more involved at their parish, and join a program or group or even start one.

When she accepted the Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award, Akalegbere also had advice for the nation’s bishops, and for others engaged in working for justice.

“The Holy Spirit challenges all of us gathered here today. Dear bishops, I ask that you never grow comfortable. We all must never, ever grow comfortable. Tension and discomfort marked so much of the Gospels,” she said, adding, “We look to you all for hope and guidance. In your leadership be a witness to solidarity and subsidiarity, get in the trenches of your dioceses, and truly engage in deep encounters with people of all backgrounds and cultures. Not for an event or a moment but deep encounters and exchanges that elicit the depths of the other’s humanity. Be a weaver, not a shredder of the beautiful tapestry of our faith.”

The young woman whose name means “God’s time” emphasized, “Disciples will never be comfortable if we are doing justice right. Listen to the stirring of the Holy Spirit and act with strength and courage.”

The Nwelue Legacy: Emancipation Of Slaves And Their Education

BY ONYEKA NWELUE

In 1821, centuries after the Portuguese first arrived and met with the Igbo people in the 15th century, as my recently deceased grand-uncle Nze Christopher Nnadum would tell me, my paternal great-great-grandfather, Nze Ukwu Nnadum, asked that Nwangborie Iwundu, a woman from Umuezeala Nsu, who was sold into slavery to the Portuguese merchants, be allowed to return to Nsu, from where she had been taken as a slave and sold to the Portuguese.

It was Nwangborie Iwundu who brought Christianity to my village and helped begin the building of St. Paul’s Cathedral in 1903.

A scene played out in my people’s history. It is about Nwangborie Iwundu. When the envoy of Eze Nsu Palace travelled, they heard someone speak like them; in the same accent and intonation.

When my grand-uncle told me the story of my paternal great-great-grandfather, Nze Ukwu Nnadum, how he was the Royal Court Adjudicator at the King’s Palace and how he translated for the Palace when the Portuguese arrived in my town, I needed to know how he learnt to translate.

That question was never answered because nobody knew. It’s still a mystery that I am trying to understand today. However, I am quite sure that I belong to the Nze na Ozo caste, which is the caste of intellectuals.

According to this story published by Vanguard newspapers: ‘Imo community marks 100 years of Christianity’,

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/imo-community-marks-100-years-christianity/, “Madam Nwangborie Iwundu born on Orie day, the second market day in Igbo land was renowned as a woman who God used to introduce and advance Christianity in Ezeoke land and neighbouring towns. She was sold into slavery, waiting to be transported to the western world to serve in tobacco and sugar cane plantations.

As history has it, men from Ezeoke-Nsu notably oil merchants but nicknamed “Ndi Potokiri” (Ekeoba, Duru Ochie etc) travelled to Arochukwu to sell palm oil to the Portuguese; while these men were in the market, they came in contact with a woman called Nwangborie who spoke Igbo with Nsu accent. Through some interrogations, these men discovered that Nwangborie Iwundu was a native of Umuezeala-Nsu, a neighbouring town to Ezeoke-Nsu. She narrated that, she was sold into slavery by her own people as she then resided in the king’s palace as one of the king’s concubines.

Consequently, the men from Ezeoke-Nsu informed Madam Nwan-gborie that slavery had been abolished in their land and Madam Nwan-gborie showed immense interest to return home and settle with her people. She was given directions on how to locate home.”

Looking back at this time in history, one can afford to conclude that it was the power of language, the language of authenticity, the authenticity of the woman to even stick to her accent, that saved her.

Her authentic voice was her salvation.

Nze Ukwu Nnadum, my ancestor, as I was told, was the Royal Court Adjudicator who interpreted languages and laws for the people. He belonged to the Nze na Ozo caste, which is part of the Igbo caste system.

Today, they can be compared to the Senate and House of Representatives – or, broadly, as a member of the House of Parliament. As widely known, the Nze na Ozo society is the highest and most important spiritual, religious, and social grouping in the Igbo society of Southeast Nigeria. Initiation into the aristocratic Nze na Ozo society marks the person as nobility, but it is hereditary.

Other castes are not allowed into this sect because there is a certain way they communicate and carry themselves, with the utmost elegance, just like one conscious of his genealogy. The Nze na Ozo caste comes after the Diala caste – who are known to be the landowners.

Almost every 20th of December, or thereabouts, there is the Mbom Uzo (Ibo Uzo in Igbo Izugbe) Festival, which celebrates the homecoming of Urashi to Nsu. This festival was so elaborate in the past and observed by many, with the rituals that would take place before the procession of people to the market. Slowly, the traditions of Ezeoke Nsu began to fade away. Nothing much is practised there. Now, the question is, how do we restore the visibility of these gorgeous festivals.

With the advent of Christianity, there is a breakdown in the hierarchy, and people began to refuse to adhere to classification, which I assume is important in keeping society in check.

For the legacy of Nwelue Nnadum, we are doing our best to also remember his birth on 20th December every year.

Onyeka Nwelue is an Academic Visitor at the University of Oxford’s African Studies Centre as well as the author of 11 books, including ‘The Strangers of Braamfontein.’

------------------VANGUARD

Failed State? Why Nigeria’s Fragile Democracy Is Facing An Uncertain Future

BY PETER BEUMONT

Dr Chike Akunyili, a prominent surgeon in Nigeria’s southern state of Anambra, was murdered along with his police guard last month


A series of overlapping security, political and economic crises has left Nigeria facing its worst instability since the end of the Biafran war in 1970.

With experts warning that large parts of the country are in effect becoming ungovernable, fears that the conflicts in Africa’s most populous state were bleeding over its borders were underlined last week by claims that armed Igbo secessionists in the country’s south-east were now cooperating with militants fighting for an independent state in the anglophone region of neighbouring Cameroon.



The mounting insecurity from banditry in the north-west, jihadist groups such as Boko Haram in the north-east, violent conflict between farmers and pastoralists across large swathes of Nigeria’s “middle belt”, and Igbo secessionists in the south-east calling for an independent Biafra once again, is driving a brain drain of young Nigerians. It has also seen the oil multinational Shell announce that it is planning to pull out of the country because of insecurity, theft and sabotage.

Among recent prominent victims of the lethal violence was Dr Chike Akunyili, a prominent physician in Nigeria’s southern state of Anambra, ambushed as he returned from a lecture to commemorate the life of his wife, Dora, who had been the head of the country’s national food and drug agency.

Who killed the widower and his police guard remains unclear. The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), an Igbo secessionist movement whose militancy has grown increasingly violent and which has vowed to prevent November’s elections for governor in Anambra state, has denied involvement. So too has the security agency, the Department of State Services. Eyewitnesses reported that the attackers, who also killed his driver, were shouting that there would be no elections in Anambra.

What is clear, however, is that Akunyili’s murder is far from an isolated event in Africa’s second-largest economy – a country facing multiple and overlapping challenges that have plunged many areas into violence and lawlessness.

From Boko Haram’s jihadist insurgency in the north, to the escalating conflict between farmers and pastoralists, a growing piracy crisis in the Gulf of Guinea and the newly emboldened Igbo secessionists, Nigeria – under the presidency of the retired army general Muhammadu Buhari since 2015 – is facing a mounting sense of crisis as elections approach in 2023.

Those security issues are in addition to a series of other problems, including rising levels of poverty, violent crime and corruption amid an increasing sense that the central government, in many places, is struggling to govern.

All of which has prompted dire warnings from some observers about the state of Nigeria’s democracy.

One of the bleakest was the analysis delivered by Robert Rotberg and John Campbell, two prominent US academics – the latter a former ambassador to Nigeria – in an essay for Foreign Policy in May that attracted considerable debate.

“Nigeria has long teetered on the precipice of failure,” they argued. “Unable to keep its citizens safe and secure, Nigeria has become a fully failed state of critical geopolitical concern. Its failure matters because the peace and prosperity of Africa and preventing the spread of disorder and militancy around the globe depend on a stronger Nigeria.”

Even among those who dispute the labelling of Nigeria as a fully failed state accept that insecurity is rising.

Nigeria’s minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, accepts that insecurity exists but insists the country is winning the war against its various insurgents.

“I live in Nigeria, I work in Nigeria and I travel all around Nigeria and I can tell you Nigeria is not a failed state,” Mohammed told the BBC.

But if the murder of Chike Akunyili represents anything, it is the dangers facing Nigerians in many parts of the country. This has prompted some to argue that the country’s centralised federal model, a legacy of independence and the long years of military rule, is in need of reform.

While Nnamdi Obasi, who follows Nigeria for the International Crisis Group, would not yet brand Nigeria a failed state, he sees it as a fragile one with the potential for the situation to worsen without radical improvements in governance.

“I’d say the country is deeply challenged on several fronts,” he said from Abuja. “It’s challenged in terms of its economy and people’s livelihoods.

“There is a sense of disappointment in the fact that the country hasn’t developed as people had expected and has suffered reversals in poverty and youth unemployment. Then there’s the dearth of infrastructure and a generally very poor quality of services.

“On the security front there are several main areas of concern. The first is the north-east, which is where Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap) are located.

“In the north-west there are armed groups who are generally referred to as bandits but who have, in a sense, grown beyond that definition of ‘bandit’. [Recently] they attacked a military camp in Sokoto state and killed 12 military personnel.

“Then there is the old problem in the Niger delta [Nigeria’s main oil-producing region], which remains unresolved.”

But the Niger delta’s bubbling disquiet has in recent years been eclipsed by other conflicts – particularly that between pastoral herders and farmers in Nigeria’s central belt, and the re-emergence of an armed Biafran nationalist movement in the Igbo south-east. This separatist activity is happening for the first time since the end of the Biafran war, from 1967 to 1970, which led to widespread starvation and left a million people dead.

For many Nigeria experts, the lesson is not to be found in the individual parts of the crisis but in the way they are beginning to bleed into one another.

As Obasi points out, the conflicts between nomadic herders and farmers have been in part driven by the displacement south of pastoralists from the north-east and north-west by the insecurity in those regions, while a widening sense of impunity across Nigeria has driven people to arm themselves.

“Insecurity seems almost nationwide,” said Obasi. “People have difficulty moving from one city to another, with kidnappings and danger on the highways.

“It is going from a largely governed country with a few ungoverned spaces to a place where there are a few governed spaces while in the rest of the country governance has retreated.”

It bodes ill for Nigeria’s democratic system of civilian government, adopted in 1999 after long years of military rule that began in 1966 apart from a brief four-year interregnum during President Shehu Shagari’s second Nigerian republic, which ended in 1983.

It was Buhari – who now calls himself a “converted democrat” – who succeeded him as head of state after he overthrew Shagari’s government in a military coup.

While the 2011 elections were seen by the US as being among the “most credible and transparent elections since the country’s independence”, Nigeria’s politics have long been complicated by an unwritten agreement among its elites that power should rotate between a figure from the Muslim-dominated north and the mainly Christian south every two terms. With Buhari’s two terms due to end in 2023, power will then – in theory at least – rotate to the south.

Leena Koni Hoffman, a research associate at the Chatham House thinktank and a member of the Nigerian diaspora, says ordinary Nigerians feel “vulnerable” and “grim”, suggesting that the rotational system of government may no longer be fit for purpose.

“The agreement negotiated by the elites is broken. It is not inclusive and the democratic dividend is not being distributed,” she said.

The consequence, she adds, has been that Nigeria’s politics has fractured, with “people exploiting ethnic and religious differences to give people answers that match questions in any part of Nigeria”.

“To give you an idea of the scale of the conflict happening in Nigeria, I could show you a map coloured pink for where violence is happening – it is pink all over.

“For a country that has not been at war since the Biafran war that ended in 1970 – and in the middle of the longest stretch of civilian democracy – to be experiencing this scale of intense violence should be alarming,” she said.

“We knew a long time ago that the country’s rural population had little security, but now we understand they are being exposed to violent non-state actors who have worked out that the security apparatus is hollowed out.

“My family comes from the middle belt. My father is a retired accountant who wants to farm but he can’t be in his home town because it has been decimated by violence. You hear of incidents where 30 people are killed here, a dozen there. Villages attacked.

“More and more communities are seeing that the government is not stepping in with its security forces and are forming their own vigilante groups.”

Aggravating the sense of a state being hollowed out is an under-resourced and overwhelmed judicial system that has left ordinary Nigerians with little expectation of access to justice.

Writing on Facebook after his death, Akunyili’s daughter described their last conversation the day before his killing, with questions that many Nigerians are asking.

“I asked him if he was being careful and he assured me that he was, going on to add that he never went out any more and was sure to be home by six. Convinced, I reminded him to be even more careful and to take care of himself.

“We can choose a different path,” she added, referring to ubuntu, a concept of humanity and community based on the idea: “I am because we are.”

“This current [path] leads to more senseless death and pain for one too many,” she said.

---------------------------THE LONDON GUARDIAN OCTOBER 25, 2021

The World Finally Has A Malaria Vaccine. Now It Must Invest In It

BY NGOZI OKONJO IWEALA

A health worker prepares a malaria vaccination at Yala hospital in western Kenya in October. A widespread rollout could save tens of thousands of children’s lives. Photograph: Brian Ongoro/AFP/Getty



As an economist I know it makes financial as well as ethical sense to get this world-first vaccine to the millions who need it

vividly remember the day I learned a harsh lesson in the tragic burden of malaria that too many of us from the African continent have endured. I was 15, living amid the chaos of Nigeria’s Biafran war, when my three-year-old sister fell sick. Her body burning with fever, I tied her on my back and carried her to a medical clinic, a six-mile trek from my home.

We arrived at the clinic to find a huge crowd trying to break through locked doors. I knew my sister’s condition could not wait. I dropped to the ground and crawled between legs, my sister propped listlessly on my back, until I reached an open window and climbed through. By the time I was inside, my sister was barely moving. The doctor worked rapidly, injecting antimalarial drugs and infusing her with fluids to rehydrate her body. In a few hours, she started to revive. If we had waited any longer, my sister might not have survived.

Thinking about that day, I consider how far we have traveled in the fight against malaria, with the recent historic announcement from the World Health Organization (WHO) recommending the world’s first malaria vaccine (RTS,S) to reduce illness and death across regions where children are at risk. As part of a package of interventions, tailored to local malaria conditions, the vaccine could save tens of thousands of young lives every year – especially among the most vulnerable, as my little sister was.

Since 2019, more than 800,000 African children have had at least one dose of the RTS,S vaccine as part of a pilot in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi. Now, with the right investment, millions more children could be immunised and grow up with less malaria, fewer hospitalisations and healthier lives.

Malaria is emotional – it strikes suddenly and kills our children. But I am an economist, so I put emotion aside to consider whether the vaccine is a good investment.

Malaria impoverishes countries. A 2001 study estimated per capita income levels in malaria-endemic countries to be 70% lower, and malaria results in $12bn (£9bn) in lost productivity around the world each year. Some countries spend up to 40% of their public health budget treating the disease. This is the stark divide that malaria creates every day in Africa and one that a malaria vaccine can help close. Analysis of data from 180 countries demonstrates a clear link between a reduction in the burden of malaria and faster economic growth.
I urge the global health community to invest on a robust scale so that we may reap the fruits of this breakthrough

Malaria disproportionately affects the poor and hampers the economic development of communities. Malaria has pushed many a working family into poverty. So yes, as an economist, I can say that investment in a malaria vaccine is money well spent – for economic development, for poverty reduction and to reduce inequities.

I applaud the governments, the WHO, its partners and the funders that have supported the pilots that have brought us to this point. I was honoured to chair the board of Gavi, the vaccine alliance, in 2019, when we made important decisions on efforts to bring this vaccine forward. Today, in a different capacity but with the same passion, I urge the global health community to again be bold and invest in the malaria vaccine on a robust scale, so that we may reap the fruits of this breakthrough for children’s health.

My sister is now a doctor, working to save the lives of others, and the mother of three children. Saving children from malaria is about protecting Africa’s future. Despite progress against the disease, millions of Africans have died from malaria since 2000, most of them about the same age as my sister when she became sick. They will not have a chance to become doctors, teachers, farmers, computer programmers or play any other role, or to have and care for their own families.

But with the introduction of the world’s first malaria vaccine, and continued investment, we can curb this terrible disease. The RTS,S vaccine is a cost-effective new tool, something concrete we can act on now to give millions of boys and girls the chance to contribute – and ensure Africa’s economic progress is no longer slowed by malaria.

As the world witnesses tremendous inequities in access to vaccines, and we explore ways to bring vaccine development knowhow and capacity home to Africa, it is our collective responsibility to invest in the malaria vaccine now in our hands, and ensure that it reaches those who need it.


Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the director-general of the World Trade Organization

----------------------THE LONDON GUARDIAN

Mkpuru Mmiri - Drug Chaos In Igboland Escalates!

BY NNAMDI OJIEGO

VANGUARD

An epidemic has hit Igboland. No one is safe. Gory tales litter the space.

On October 19, 2021, a boy allegedly killed his father in Adazi Ani in Anambra State and took the father's N50, 000 just to buy Mkpuru mmiri. He was apprehended by youths of the community, beaten to stupor and burnt alive.

Another died in neighboring community as a result of debilitating effects of Mkpuru mmiri. In Umudioka, Anambra, two siblings, after taking Guzoro, chased their mother with machetes and prevented the woman from coming to the family house for three days until the village vigilante officials intervened.

There are numerous trending videos on social media platforms from different communities in Igbo land of young men, and in some cases, women and under-aged, being tied to beams and trees at public squares, beaten mercilessly for dealing in and taking Mkpuru mmiri. Information emanating from the zone shows that many Igbo youths are going insane, even as some have completely gone mad after drug use. And these are the future of the society.

According to population projections by the United Nations for 2020, about 43 per cent of the Nigerian population comprised children 0-14 years, 19 per cent aged 15-24 years and about 62 per cent are below age 25 years. By contrast, less than five per cent is aged 60 years and above. This makes Nigeria a youthful population with a median age of about 18 years, which is lower than African and world estimates of 20 and 29 respectively.

Escalation

With the above statistics, it is believed that the energy that will power Nigeria into a prosperous future will come from her teeming, vibrant youths. However, with a worrisome escalation in the rate of drugs abuse in the country, this generation of youths may not live to achieve their God-given potentials.

Faced with this existential threat, many stakeholders and prominent individuals of Igbo extraction, including politicians, celebrities, and community leaders, have expressed concerns over the effects of deadly substances and lending their voices for a concerted effort to stem the tide that is capable of wiping a generation of Igbo from the surface of the earth. They are aware that if urgent action is not taken, the Igbo race could be annihilated and the land becomes desolate.

Methamphetamine

What is Mkpuru mmiri that has thrown the South-East into chaos? It is a hard drug called methamphetamine or meth for short. It is called Mkpuru mmiri or ice in local parlance because it looks like ice block. It is also called Guzoro because of euphoria effect one gets after taking it.

According to Wikipedia, methamphetamine is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity.

The US National Institute on Drug Abuse described methamphetamine as a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. It takes the form of a white, odourless, bitter-tasting crystalline powder that easily dissolves in water or alcohol.

Meth was developed early in the 20th century from its parent drug, amphetamine, and was used originally in nasal decongestants and bronchial inhalers. Like amphetamine, methamphetamine causes increased activity and talkativeness, decreased appetite, and a pleasurable sense of well-being or euphoria.

However, methamphetamine differs from amphetamine in that, at comparable doses, much greater amounts of the drug get into the brain, making it a more potent stimulant. It also has longer-lasting and more harmful effects on the central nervous system. These characteristics make it a drug with a high potential for widespread misuse.

In time, it became clear that methamphetamine was dangerously addictive. In the 1970s, the drug was added to the Schedule II list of controlled substances and became illegal except when it is prescribed by a physician for a very limited number of medical conditions.

The activities of the drugs addicts and dealers have become so damaging that town unions and youths associations are taking drastic measures to stamp out the menace from their communities. The situation is made worse and dangerous because there is no quick cure or drug for the addiction. The only treatment is behavioral therapy which is not readily available in Nigeria.

Extreme Measures

Though some people have condemned the manner of punishment meted out to the addicts and peddlers, describing it as barbaric, inhuman and unacceptable, others were of the view that no punishment or measure is too much or harsh for drug abusers considering the havoc the new way of life of some youths is already wreaking in the society.

Miracle Chioma, a concerned Nigerian, in her reaction, described the action as barbaric, stressing that beating the abusers would not stop them from taking the substance.

"These are adults who are already addicted to a particular substance and drug addiction is a chronic disease characterized by compulsive or uncontrollable drug seeking and use despite its harmful consequences", Chioma stated.

"Addiction is a strong disease and these people can't stop taking Mkpuru mmiri by this act of beating them.

"Most drug addicts need long-term and repeated care from a behavioral counsellor or a therapist to stop using the drug completely and recover their lives."

Cane Deliverance

But Ugezu J. Ugezu, a celebrated movie actor and director, in a widely circulated video, supported what he termed 'Cane Deliverance' (flogging) and, specifically, urged all communities to adopt it to save Igbo youths.

According to him, town unions should not wait on government but take the bull by the horns in tackling the problem.

He said: "I want to lend my voice to a raging issue in our land and I am urging presidents-general of town unions, specifically, to wake up from their slumbers and take the bull by the horns.

"What I'm talking about is what is called Mkpuru mmiri that our youths are taking and they are neck-deep into it.

"We don't know how it started or who started it. It could be from those who want to destroy our land and our youths have ignorantly embraced it, little children, especially those who have nothing doing. "Even those that do menial jobs are now into it. You can see it's not a good thing. So I believe that it is through flogging that the madness can be driven out of them.

"I'm glad some communities have started already and I am saying that if your community's constitution does not have provisions for flogging errant youths, let the constitution be amended to make provision for flogging.

"If we leave these children on their own, all of them will be useless.

"The Igbo have structures like age grade, Umunna, etc., let's use these already existing structures to fight and correct these anomalies.

"If we don't take these drastic measures now, in the next three to five years, we will have a bigger disaster in our hands.

"We are talking of the future of our land, so if we allow them to waste their lives, we will be the ultimate losers. We have to start now and it's the town unions that will lead this fight.

"We can't wait for government on this. We must fight this fight ourselves. We must use the cane to whip out the evil spirit in our youths.

"So any child that refuses to listen to good counsel, his body will listen to flogging."

Failure

Speaking in the same vein, a youth leader and Convener of Movement for Grassroots Governance, Comrade Ebelechukwu Ngini, blamed government at all levels for the calamity that has befallen Igbo youths, even as he supported the various measures adopted by communities to fight the scourge including flogging.

Ngini said: "Shaming the drug abusers is getting positive results so far. This may not be the best international practice but it is pragmatic.

"We don't have the luxury of basic mental health facilities, what do you expect us to do? Speak beautiful grammar and fantasize on lofty psychiatric know how?

"No, we must do something to save a generation. So far, flogging has been discouraging many would-have-been users whilst a lot more dropped the habit automatically after such treatment.

"What other results do you want to see? The flogging more than anything brought the menace of this drug to the front burner of discussion now. We can get better but for now, the flogging continues. Don't want to get flogged publicly? Avoid Mkpårå mmiri.

"I am beyond worried. I am much afraid that our greatest asset as a people is being destroyed before our very eyes. The future of every race is their youth and here we are talking about young, even teenage boys and girls getting illicit drugs easily and abusing them.

'I cringe to imagine what will become of us if this plague is not nipped in the bud. The worrisome question is how come meth litters our streets such that even 11-year-olds easily access them like it is Vitamin C? What makes the supply chain this thick and seamless? A question I believe the NDLEA should answer.

State of Emergency

"The cause is primarily the failure of government keeping to their side of the social contract with the people.

"Parents should stop making excuses for errant children and treat children tilting towards bad gangs dispassionately for a stitch in time saves nine.

"That said, I believe we, rather than passing the buck now, ought to declare a state of emergency on the menace.

"I unequivocally commend Anambra youths who have taken it upon ourselves to tackle this hydra-headed monster head-on.

"We must give our best to end the abuse of Mkpårå mmiri before it ends us.

"Many of users turn out to be the worst kind of criminals; gory stories of their escapades are legion. One beheaded his father the other day in Adazi. Many robberies and prostitution there are in a bid to support the illicit drug habit".

Francisca Ike-Nebeolisa, another concerned Igbo, supported Ngini's stance, saying: "Hunting them and treating them as criminals have helped so many of them. That is the reason most communities are adopting this means.

"Whatever means any community adopts to curtail the sale of this killer drug and reduce the rate people take it should be encouraged because, once people are unable to access the substance, it will reduce its spread.

Testimony

Giving credence to the assertions of those in support public shaming, one of the victims, in a testimonial video, stated that the flogging and beating he received saved him from destroying himself and made him a better person.

Ugochukwu, a native of Osumenyi in Anambra, revealed that he was one of those who received severe beatings for indulging in Mkpuru mmiri.

"My town's youth association apprehended me, tied me up and gave me almost 100 strokes of the cane. That was how the drugs left him", he explained.

In the video, he professed his newfound life, stressing that he is now humble and working as an apprentice in a barber's shop.

The victim thanked the youths for dispensing those life-saving strokes and encouraged them to fish out other young boys in need of the therapy that saved him.

Asian Treatment

An anonymous commentator, who claimed that the situation was worse in Imo, his home state, said dealers should receive stiffer punishment.

"Many guys in Imo are mad right now due to Mkpuru mmiri. Government and communities must go after the dealers", he said.

"Imo, like Anambra, is also flogging them. A lot of our brothers who are drug peddlers and who usually travel to other countries to destroy their youths are now home destroying Igbo youths.

"If anyone should be flogged, it should be the dealers. I am even advocating death penalty for the dealers and sellers in our land just like it is done in some countries in Asia. "I will never feel sorry for anyone given life or 50 years in prison or the death penalty for carrying drugs in Asia and other nations. They did not want their youths destroyed. Now I know why."

Depression

Experts have attributed the rate at which people abuse drugs to depression.

According to them, the rate of people who suffer from depression is very high these days, and this makes them indulge in anything that seems to make them happy even when some of them are fully aware of the consequences.

Knowing the addicted

According to WebMD, some of the signs of someone with serious meth addiction include tattered dressing and shabby looks, always picking at hair or skin, loss of appetite and weight, frequent moving of eyes, strange sleeping patterns (staying up for days or even weeks at a time), talkativeness (nonstop talking), insolvency leading to selling of possessions or stealing, angry outbursts or mood swings, and psychotic behaviour such as paranoia and hallucinations.

Quit Notices

While some Igbo communities have started dealing with drug dealers, others are issuing quit warnings to unscrupulous elements. One of the notices read: "With a heart full of sorrow, Nteje Youths have begun a check on those selling and those buying this hard drug called 'Mkpuru mmiri' (ICE)... because it has caused more harm than good to the youths of our land and those involved must be brought to book... "

A public service announcement from Umudioka Improvement Union, Anambra State and signed by the President-General, Hon. Chike Odoji, reads: "This to announce to all indigenes of Umudioka and non-indigenes living in Umudioka that, henceforth, consumption, smoking and sales of Mkpuru mmiri - methamphetamine, Isi na Awa Agu - Colorado (High-level Marijuana), Aju Achu Enwe - Arisona (SK), Stonch - Mkpuru ogwu, Indian Hemp - Marijuana and other substances/illicit drugs have been proscribed in Umudioka and environs.

"Soonest, UIU, in conjunction with NDLEA, anti-cult and other relevant law enforcement agencies, will commence a manhunt for all dealers and consumers within Umudioka.

"You are therefore advised to stay away from any known bunk that deals on the above-prohibited items. We will not spare anyone once apprehended no matter how highly placed."

Blame Judges

Worried about the high rate of drug abuse in the country, Sen. Dimka Hezekiah (Plateau) has sponsored a bill to amend the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) law to check the incidence of light sentencing for drug offenders.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap. N 30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 provides for stringent penalties for persons involved in the importation and exportation of hard drugs such as cocaine or heroin.

These penalties range from life imprisonment to 15 years in jail.

Hezekiah, however, raised concerns that although the Supreme Court had held that the minimum penalty for those dealing in hard drugs was a term of 15 years, some judges of the Federal High Court had continued to pass ridiculously light and illegal sentences on convicts.

"Rather than a term of imprisonment of 15 years, the maximum sentence passed on any convict was a term of 3 years for heroin", the lawmaker said.

"Some of these have been as low as four months imprisonment for 1.44 kg of cocaine.

"Worse still is the fact that when some of the judges pass these light terms of imprisonment, the convicts are further given options of fines, which are not provided for under the NDLEA Act."

Hezekiah further said that the arbitrariness that was being perpetrated by the trial judges by not following the provisions of the Act could lead to corrupt practices and encouragement of the drug trade.

He added that the proposed amendment would close any loopholes by having a clear, unambiguous and unequivocal provision that judges could not vary the sentences provided by the Act.

Generation at Risk

Supporting the bill, Sen. Istifanus Dung (PDP-Plateau) said the prevalence and menace of drugs and their destructive effects on the lives of citizens, particularly youths, had attained an alarming stage.

"A whole generation is at risk of being lost to drugs. The production and sale of illicit drugs require strong regulation and enforcement powered by NDLEA", Dung said.

"And this bill is seeking to strengthen and stiffen the sanctions against drug abuse in such a way that it will end in breaking and ending the destructive drug trade."

Scary Situation

Also speaking, Sen. Abba Moro (PDP-Benue) said: "The bill is germane to the circumstances in which we find ourselves here.

"The scary situation in which we find ourselves in this country today emanates partly from a combination of factors of the proliferation of firearms and light weapons. "The second dimension to our very scary security situation is the question of drugs."

A Ravaging Epidemic - Marwa, NDLEA boss

Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Gen. Buba Marwa, has described the problem of drugs in Nigeria as "a ravaging epidemic", stressing that "it is for this reason that we remained upstanding to do our best with what we have and with the support we have been receiving from the Federal Government.

Marwa, in a recent report, stated that with the support from the Federal Government, foreign partners and stakeholders, Nigeria would win the war against drug abuse and trafficking.

"We plan to go to local governments for sensitisation; we are constrained at this moment with the size of our workforce but with the approval of the President, we have recruited more personnel to increase our size to enable us to go into the local governments so that each local government will eventually have its special command", he said.

According to him, the Federal Government had produced the improved fourth edition of the National Drug Control Master Plan 2021-2025 with the technical support from the UNODC and EU funding.

The document, according to the NDLEA boss, comprehensively addresses four thematic pillars of Supply Reduction, Demand Reduction, Access to Controlled Medicines for Medical Purposes, and Coordination and Governance.

Addicts Need Help

Continuing, Marwa said: "I must say that the use of drugs is an illness, especially when it gets to addiction. They (addicts) can't help themselves, they need to be helped. The efforts will not be towards criminalising or penalising them but to help them to be treated, so we encourage those under drugs to seek treatment. Twenty per cent of the drug users in Nigeria have drug use disorder. They need help and we encourage that."

Imo Lawmaker Calls for Action

In a related development, the lawmaker representing Ideato North in Imo State House of Assembly, Hon. Innocent Egwim, has voiced his concerns that if nothing was done to checkmate the ugly trend and get the youths of the state to say no to the consumption of Mkpuru mmiri and other such drugs, the future of the state would be in jeopardy.

In a motion titled, 'To Curb the Menace of Consumption of Mkpuru Mmiri and Other Killer Hard Drugs Among the Youths of Imo State', and co-sponsored by seven other lawmakers, Egwim said: "The menace of the consumption of Mkpuru mmiri, among others, by the youths of this state is too obvious to be ignored as the non-affordability of the psychoactive hard drugs such cocaine, barbiturate, tramadol, codeine and others has led most of our youths to consume a more deadly, tough and cheaper substance, which they christened Mkpuru mmiri or Guzoro."

The lawmaker explained that the habitual consumption of Mkpuru mmiri has rendered some of "our youths useless by making them mad and sending some to their early graves as its consumption is often associated with health hazards and risks such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular-related illness, mental health problems, sleep deprivation, brain damage and anorexia to list a few.

"Therefore, if nothing is done to checkmate the ugly trend and get the youths of this state to say no to the consumption of Mkpuru mmiri and other such drugs, the future of the state is in jeopardy in terms of getting good pedigree of youths for leadership succession".

Egwim urged the House to prevail on Governor Hope Uzodinma to take appropriate steps to address the situation in Imo before it gets out of hand.